Open research questions in Business Process Modeling and Analysis

What the literature leaves open

• Current research lacks a systematic and formally grounded method for tailoring software evolution processes. There is a need for a structured approach to tailor software evolution processes.

  Representation of Dynamic Basic Block in Software Evolution Using Incidence Matrix · 2026 · DOI

• The study uses a proxy ground truth due to the lack of explicit annotations in the log. The study uses a limited dataset (BPI 2017) and a specific anomaly detection algorithm (Isolation Forest).

  Diagnosing Long-tail Bottlenecks in Business Processes: An Integrated Framework of Process Mining and Multi-dimensional Anomaly Detection · 2026 · DOI

• The study suggests that future research can explore the application of the proposed framework in other educational contexts. The study also suggests that future research can investigate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in improving student outcomes.

  Instructor designed generative AI in dental hygiene education: a process mining-based learning pathway framework for supporting self-regulated learning · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of a clear path by which BPM impacts financial performance theoretically or empirically currently. The need for strategies for improving business operations and profit levels in light of the growing significance of business process management over recent years.

  The Impact Mechanism of Business Process Management on Corporate Financial Efficiency in the Context of Digital Economy · 2026 · DOI

• Although there is no clear path by which BPM impacts financial performance theoretically or empirically currently. The lack of a systematic review and analytical framework development for integrating publicly available macro-economic and Industry Data with research results from peers in this field.

  The Impact Mechanism of Business Process Management on Corporate Financial Efficiency in the Context of Digital Economy · 2026 · DOI

• The literature lacks an integrated perspective linking LLM integration with reliability requirements, cost controllability, multi-tenant constraints, and the governed evolution of platform functionality in corporate SaaS systems.

  Architectural approaches to integrating LLM-models into corporate B2B SAAS-systems · 2026 · DOI

• Future work should address each of these gaps through multi-country replication, observational studies, and expert validation of the taxonomy. Besides that, future research may explore automated support for documentation processes, including intelligent methods for traceability, change-impact analysis, and detecting knowledge degradation in complex systems.

  Context-oriented Framework for Determining Requirements Change Documentation Approaches · 2026 · DOI

• Without access to exact prompts or datasets, replication is impossible. The lack of standardized validation in primary studies is a critical gap.

  Structural and Algorithmic Limitations in LLM-Driven BPMN Generation: A Rapid Review of Empirical Evidence · 2026 · DOI

• This paper presented an adaptive goal recognition framework designed to address a key challenge in dynamic environments: recognizing newly emerging goals before sufficient historical data become available to construct dedicated behavioral models.

  Adaptive goal recognition using process mining techniques in dynamic environments and its development to recognize new goals · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of a unified model capable of handling multiple operational streams simultaneously.

  Task Management and Collaboration Tool for Teams · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the need for strategic alignment and the role of IT tools in supporting BPM. The study demonstrates the challenge of fostering a shift from functional to process-oriented management in higher education.

  Implementation of BPM at a Public University in Poland: The Significance of Custom IT Tools · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the need for proprietary IT solutions to support BPM in higher education.

  Implementation of BPM at a Public University in Poland: The Significance of Custom IT Tools · 2026 · DOI

• The SHS is limited to users without in-depth expertise. The evaluation was carried out with end users, who may not be representative of all users.

  Leveraging extreme-scale simulation data: a workflow framework for multidisciplinary simulator integration · 2026 · DOI

• The potential of simulation models is not fully exploited for future products. There is a lack of automated workflows that enable simulation without in-depth expertise.

  Leveraging extreme-scale simulation data: a workflow framework for multidisciplinary simulator integration · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should focus on addressing the limitations of the approach. Future research should investigate the use of LLMs in other domains. Future research should explore the development of standardized infrastructure for asset administration.

  Large language models as a decision-making core for semantic capability check in asset administration shell-based intelligent manufacturing · 2026 · DOI

• The gap is the lack of a mechanism to reason over and compare capabilities in the IDTA 02020 Capability Description submodel. The gap is the inability to distinguish between properties that constitute requirements to be proven and properties that merely describe the product.

  Large language models as a decision-making core for semantic capability check in asset administration shell-based intelligent manufacturing · 2026 · DOI

• Limitations in completeness and optimality were identified. LLMs may require structured workflows, oversight, and governance. The need for feature engineering and data labeling was noted.

  Large language models in manufacturing: a comprehensive review · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should focus on identifying additional threats to the validity of BPS evaluations and exploring ways to mitigate them.

  Glitches in the matrix: threats to the validity of data-driven business process simulation · 2026 · DOI

• While Low-Code platforms (LCP) enable domain experts to design extensions, the integration of business process libraries (BPLs) with Enterprise Systems (ES) remains under-researched.

  The Missing Link in ERP Customization: Integrating Low-Code Platforms and Business Process Libraries · 2026

• The conflict resolution strategy for enabled transitions (shown in the iteration block Case A vs. Case B) uses ad-hoc case splitting; a formal prioritization or conflict resolution policy for software processes with non-deterministic choice between loop continuation and exit conditions is not defined.

  Representation of Dynamic Basic Block in Software Evolution Using Incidence Matrix · 2026 · DOI

• To explore the use of other anomaly detection algorithms. To investigate the use of the framework in real-time monitoring and adaptive process risk control.

  Diagnosing Long-tail Bottlenecks in Business Processes: An Integrated Framework of Process Mining and Multi-dimensional Anomaly Detection · 2026 · DOI

• Fig. Work system evaluation procedure Data registration can use different forms and data types (Fig. 4). Visual Registration Systems (VRS) empower companies with smarter work management solutions, therefore visual data registration and analysis have become widely researched.

  Automatic Generation of Work Process Descriptions · 2026 · DOI

• The problem of fragmented consolidated reporting is still common in organizations. The manual process of consolidated reporting often results in delays in information delivery, data inconsistencies, and low effectiveness in distributing reports to decision-makers.

  Pengembangan Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Kontinu (Continuous Decision Support System) Berbasis Otomatisasi Laporan Konsolidasi menggunakan Google Apps Script dan Telegram API · 2026 · DOI

• Controlled comparison of alternative LLM integration architectures under identical workload, multi-tenant, and infrastructure conditions. Long-term observations of architectural behavior across multiple release cycles, as well as cross-industry differences in the operation of LLM components.

  Architectural approaches to integrating LLM-models into corporate B2B SAAS-systems · 2026 · DOI

• Developing hybrid architectures combining LLM semantic extraction with specialized graph layout algorithms. Investigating the use of other LLMs and prompt-based methodologies for BPMN generation.

  Structural and Algorithmic Limitations in LLM-Driven BPMN Generation: A Rapid Review of Empirical Evidence · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Business Process Modeling and Analysis

• Two Types of Bureaucracy: Enabling and Coercive · Administrative Science Quarterly · 1996 · 1,549 citations
• Referring as a collaborative process · Cognition · 1986 · 1,346 citations
• Process modeling · Communications of the ACM · 1992 · 931 citations
• Organizational Routines as Grammars of Action · Administrative Science Quarterly · 1994 · 612 citations
• Process descriptions of decision making · Organizational Behavior and Human Performance · 1979 · 436 citations
• Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes · Management Science · 1999 · 384 citations
• Production rules as a representation for a knowledge-based consultation program☆ · Artificial Intelligence · 1977 · 380 citations
• Predicting process behaviour using deep learning · Decision Support Systems · 2017 · 360 citations
• Process tracing methods: Contributions, problems, and neglected research questions · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · 1989 · 356 citations
• Modeling Data and Process Quality in Multi-Input, Multi-Output Information Systems · Management Science · 1985 · 325 citations

Most recent work

• Evaluation of Workflow Management Systems - A Meta Model Approach · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2026
• Organizational learning for exploring Generative AI: CORE-sandbox experiments · International Journal of Information Management · 2026
• A domain-specific language and architecture for detecting process activities from sensor streams in IoT · Internet of Things · 2026
• xRWA: A cross-chain framework for interoperability of real-world assets · High-Confidence Computing · 2026
• HealthProcessAI: a technical framework and proof-of-concept for LLM-enhanced healthcare process mining · Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence · 2026
• BPSmart-CARE: a framework for managing contextualized actions in IoT systems through the integration of business process modelling and complex event processing · Internet of Things · 2026
• Enhancing Process Discovery by Optimizing Imprecise Sub-Processes · IEEE Transactions on Services Computing · 2026
• From chat to process: A conversational agent framework for social business process management · Information Processing & Management · 2026
• A text-based knowledge-embedded soft sensing modeling approach for industrial process tasks based on large language model · Control Engineering Practice · 2026
• Organizational Interoperability: Strengthening Collaboration in Systems of Information Systems · 2026

Related topics in Business, Management and Accounting